


That Explains A Lot, Acutally

by Perce



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Gen, Paul finding out about the Mythical World, Step father/step son bonding time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-09
Updated: 2013-04-09
Packaged: 2018-02-25 09:58:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2617685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Perce/pseuds/Perce
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Classic idea of "Paul finding out about demigods, monsters, gods" blah blah blah. Rather dialogue driven. No swearing, unless that's how you perceive Percy's muttering. Paul's PoV, since I feel like the one's I'd seen were mostly from Percy's or Sally's. Might just be me, oh well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	That Explains A Lot, Acutally

**Author's Note:**

> I know there’s probably a lot of these--I’ve read a few–-but I thought I’d take do my own take on the idea of “Paul finding out” and whatnot. Because it’s better than finishing my essay or other homework. /:
> 
> All Paul’s PoV.

Bizarre. A tad awkward, too. Sally decided Percy and I should get to know each other a bit, so she left to do, something, so we could “build a stepfather-stepson relationship”. Which led to us going out to eat pizza, hardly talking to one another. The only consolation I had was that Percy didn’t seem to know what to say either. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to get to know him better, but, I had this feeling that he was more complicated than one might expect. It was clear that he was hiding something, such as when he would start to tell Sally something, glance at me, then shake his head.

With a sigh, I realized I’d better take the initiative and strike up conversation. Something simple at least. “Percy, tell me this: what is with the blue food? When I ask your mother, she just laughs with a shake of her head, saying “Another time.” Is it some sort of joke?”

He looked up from his pizza, amusement scrawled across his features, which I figured was a good start. The young teen before me then laughed, setting down the slice, lacing his fingers together, suddenly becoming serious. “Ah. Funny story! Yeah, it’s a joke between her and I.”

He stopped, and I waited, but getting the sense he wasn’t planning on continuing, I had to ask, “So, what _is_ so funny about it?”

He smirked, the way that I had recognized on the troublemakers of a class. “Alright, alright. So, you know my mom was married before, right?”

I nod, “She said he was horrible. What does he have to do with the blue food?”

“Okay, okay, relax, I’m getting there. Well, one day they had an argument, and Smelly Gabe,” I raised an brow at the not-so-flattering nickname. “It’s what I called him--since he smelled so bad. Anyway, they had an argument that there was no such thing as blue food. Naturally, my mom then went out of her way to get blue food, and making blue food, just to, uh, upset him. Which worked quite well. It just became our sort of joke, and even after he, uhm, was, ah, _gone,_ we kept it up. Out of habit I guess,” he chuckled, “or a reminder that he’s going to stay gone.”

I smiled, I knew the two were very close, considering when I first met Percy he stared me down, something I didn’t think a teenager could do, and I’d met some intimidating kids. I certainly didn’t expect it from him, he looked a like troublemaker, not a bad kid. He’s protective of her, so I couldn’t be too upset with him, especially after I learned a bit more about this “Gabe”, although I’m fairly certain there’s more to that story as well. “Well, I mean, naturally, there aren’t any blue foods--not known of at any rate--but artificially I suppose.”

His eyes narrowed. “But you agree that there _are_ blue foods.”

“Yes, I suppose. Just not-”

“I’ll stop you there. You said yes. That’s all I need to hear.” He laughed a bit, “Just be glad you didn’t try to argue it with my mom, she’d probably have gotten upset.”

“Really? Just because I-”

“Yes.” He interrupted me once more, but his face became more serious than I thought was possible for him, and decided to leave it at that. There was a brief pause, when Percy got a thoughtful face and spoke up, “Tell me, what-” a crash from behind me, in turn, cut him off and I turned and saw, well, I wasn’t entirely sure. Yet I heard Percy groan, as if he was irritated by the large dog--a Rottweiler?--that cut him off. “Ugh. Uh, Paul, I’ll be right back, just, eh, stay here.”

“Wait, Percy, what are you doing? I shouldn’t let you go off on your own. Besides, what are you planning on doing, dealing with the rampaging dog? Let security handle it.”

“I really can’t do that, just, please, stay put, okay? For your safety.” I noticed him holding the same pen he tended to pull from his pocket when he got nervous. Now that I think about it, he would sometimes just suddenly up and leave when that happened.

“My safety? I’ll go with you, okay?” He glanced around hurriedly, and nodded, motioning for me to hurry. He started to jog in the direction of the destructive dog, which I still didn’t quite understand. 

Jogging just a bit behind him, almost beside my stepson, I quickly glanced toward him in time to see him uncap the pen, making me wonder what good that would do, until I blinked and it was suddenly some sort of lacrosse stick. About to ask “Where did _that_ come from?” he shouted to the dog, “Hey! Over here, you smelly mutt!” I really couldn’t find anything to say after that. There were more and more questions quickly piling up in my mind.

The next thing I know, it’s running toward him, teeth bared, and, for just the slightest of a second, I thought it’s eyes were glowing red, making me think I was going crazy. “Percy, what are you doing!” Either he didn’t hear me over the growling of the beast, or he ignored me, because he charged toward it, stabbing at the creature’s foreleg near to him with that oddly bright lacrosse stick that came from nowhere. It howled, and despite my instinct to run away--like everyone besides Percy was doing--I stayed, determined to not leave him there alone. I found myself only able to stand there petrified, rather useless, as it bit down at him. I was horrified, thinking he was going to get hurt, but instead he rolled out of the way, and stopping with ease at the giant beast’s side, stabbing into where its heart probably is. I was unaware that you could even stab with a lacrosse stick, but Percy did just that, and I shut my eyes at the horrific howl it let out. Opening them again, I found the canine to be gone, and Percy was covered in golden dust.

He blinked some out of his eyes, then scanned the area quickly, spotted me, grabbed my arm, and began to drag me away. “Percy, what just happened? And what’s that smell? Sulfur?”

A brief glance was all I got for a moment, before he said, “Not now, not here. Later.” He was even more serious before, as if it were life or death, and had to suffice with the answer all the way until we got back to my Prius. I pulled out my keys, unlocking the door, as he tried to shake some of the yellow powder onto the parking lot, before hopping in, after me.

As I was about to put the key into the ignition I had to ask, “Really, Percy, what _was that?_ What’s going on here?”

He sighed, grumbling, “I guess I had to tell him eventually. . .” and then some more in a language I didn’t recognize, but I had the gut feeling that it was old, which only baffled me more. _When had he learned another language?_ I looked at his face expectantly, noticing just how much older he looked. For a fifteen year old, his face had more maturity about it than one would expect from the average teenager. He looked up at me, sighed again, and spoke lowly, “It’s a bit of a story, and I’m not sure where to begin.”

“From the top, I suppose is as good a place as any.”

“Yeah. Okay, well, just promise me you won’t think I’m crazy or send me to some nuthouse, deal?” I nodded, more curious and eager to hear than before. What would make me thing he was crazy? “Good. Uhm, so you know the Greek gods, yeah? You said you liked Greek, eh, mythology at my birthday, right?” I nodded, not wanting to interrupt, despite wondering what they had to do with all this. “They’re real, and, before you ask what I mean or something, the gods, the monsters, those “myths”, as you’d call them,” he said using air quotes, “are all very much alive. Western civilization is what the gods follow, as they move from country to country, and are currently here in America. Their palace, Olympus, is above the Empire State Building, on the sixth-hundredth floor--yes, it is a thing, it is there.”

He paused for a breath, and I had to put in, “Are you implying that. . . You’re the child of one of them--the gods I mean?”

“Yeah. Actually, you met him, if you remember, at my birthday-”

“Poseidon. Wait a moment, when he said “Very much like that” he was being serious. He is _the_ Poseidon. How?” I mind was racing. _If Percy isn’t lying, then. . . What is he? A demigod they’re called, but--this is just too strange._

“Like I said, I guess, they move westward, to whichever country is the power of the world. Like in those “myths”, they have kids with mortals, known as demigods or half-bloods. After all this time, they’re still up to the same things. Zeus is the ruler of the sky. Cue thunder,” he mumbled at the end, just as thunder rumbled on the rather nice day, which was curious. I looked at him. He knew that would happen. It was difficult to grasp that they were not only real, but still around. Yet somehow, I could see it. The way he hid things, would return home all dirty, would keep things from me, I’d find he and Sally talking in hushed tones, with her looking worried. It was starting to come together. He must’ve seen the wheels turning in my head, “Stuff is starting to make sense now, huh? All the sudden leaving, returning in tattered clothes, being secretive, am I right? Maybe even my affinity to water?”

I hadn’t even considered that last one. It was true though, he enjoyed swimming, when they first introduced me to their favorite little spot in Montauk, he went out swimming, so far I had gotten concerned, but Sally assured me he would be fine. She always worried about him, yet that time, when he swam deep into the water, staying under for a considerable time, she looked completely unbothered. “It does, I guess. That dog then, it was a monster, wasn’t it? I thought I saw the eyes to be a glowing red for a second, but I assumed it was my mind playing tricks on me. And your lacrosse stick that came from nothing?”

“Is that what you saw, a lacrosse stick? Huh. It didn’t come from nothing, exactly. See this?” He held up his pen, which I’d never actually seen him write with. 

“Yes, it’s that pen you seem to always carry, although I don’t remember a time when you’ve written with it.”

“That’s because it became the “lacrosse stick”, as you saw. That was the Mist playing with your view of what was going on. It’s actually a sword.”

They way he said it was a sword so casually shocked me, but I had to remind myself, that if he’s a demigod, he must have something to fight the monsters. His was just cleverly disguised. “Oh. Are they all veiled to be ordinary objects like that?”

“No, actually very few are. Most demigods just have to keep something on them and conceal it. A friend of mine does have a spear that collapses into a Mace canister when she’s not fighting with it though.”

I blinked, unsure of what to say for a moment, “ _Conceal them?_ That sounds rather illegal.”

Percy snorted, “Not when it’s for our survival. Besides, unless the mortal is clear-sighted, like my mom is actually, all they’ll see is something of a similar length or whatever. Once the Mist made my sword look like a shotgun. Situational I guess. You saw a lacrosse stick, sometimes it might look like a baseball bat. A dagger could be anything of the size. I wouldn’t be surprised if some saw a small purse if a girl was wielding it.”

“What is this “Mist” anyway? Why is it distorting people’s vision?”

“Well, it’s a magical veil that doesn’t let mortals see things for what they really are. It’s for their safety, really. If they knew, they’d probably be in more trouble than they sometimes already are. The Mist just changes what they see to something that makes more sense to them. Would you normally see a teenager running around with a sword in hand? No, probably not. A baseball bat or lacrosse stick? Yeah, sure.”

I couldn’t get over how natural this all seemed to be for him. “What did you mean by “clear-sighted” then? And why do you keep referring to people as mortals?”

He blushed slightly, apparently not realizing his actions. “‘Mortals’ because you’re not related to the gods. I’m a demigod. You’re a mortal, in no way related to them,” his mouth twitched, but I didn’t question it. “Clear-sighted mortals are those who can see through the Mist. My mom, for instance, can see my sword as it is, instead of what you did. Clear-sighted mortals have a tendency to to catch the eye of gods,” he coughed in an awkward manner, which I could understand. “They don’t always have kids with clear-sighted mortals though, and it can be hard for the demigods who don’t have parents who understand,” he sounded bitter. He probably had friends in the situation. “I’m lucky enough that my mom understands and cares so much, but not all are.” He sighed. “Any other questions?”

I thought for a moment, vaguely aware that we were just sitting in my car still. “Do demigods have powers like their parents? For instance, can you control water or something?”

He smiled a bit. “Yeah.” He looked around, and found a spare water bottle in the back, reaching for it. Once opened, he sat between us, and concentrated for a second before it started flowing out, just floating in the air. I gasped. It started swirling around a little before taking shapes, then hardened, and I realized it had become ice. In this weather? He pulled it out of the air, and bit off a chunk, sighing. With the ice chunk sitting on his hand, it melted once again and through his fingers, gathering together, and returning to the water bottle, which he promptly closed when it had all returned. He looked back to me with a smile, almost laughing at my probably astonished face. “Didn’t see that coming?”

I shook my head. “No. Not at all. This is all so crazy, but I don’t think I can argue with floating water,” I said, which made him chuckle again. Another thought crossed my mind. “What’s with the sulfur then?”

“Oh, that. It’s the monster dust.” I made a face. “Yeah, it’s not all that pleasant, but it’s better than trying to clean up the mess. Sulfur-y dust makes our job slightly easier at least.” I considered what the struggle would be of having to clean up the monster blood and body--disgusting as the thought was--and had to agree. 

“Well. Let’s get you home so you can shower then, I’ll clean it out of the car, hmm?” He nodded, and we rode home in silence. I considered if he had any other powers. His father was called the ‘Earth-shaker’ wasn’t he? And the ‘Father of Horses’. At a red light, I glanced to the teen beside me with a newfound respect. _Just how much had he gone through? What else is he capable of?_ Now that I knew, I noticed the aura of power he had. The way is eyes looked like the tide. I returned my attention to the road when a car honked, since I sat there at a green light, but Percy didn’t seem to take notice, too lost in thought.

~_~_~

After getting inside, him showering, and me ridding the car of sulfur-monster dust, we relaxed in the kitchen, once again silent. 

“Still want to see if you can see the sword? I’m not sure if you’ll be able to, but now that you know, it might be possible.”

“Sure, if there’s enough room in here.” Without a word he pulled the pen back out of his pocket and uncapped it again. At first it seemed like a lacrosse stick again, but when I narrowed my eyes at it, I could see a shimmery glow. The shape started to change. My eyes widened as it became a three foot long sword. I almost blinked, but stopped myself in case the image went away. A sword. This fifteen year old is holding what looks like a glowing bronze sword. “How. . . ?”

“You didn’t think a lacrosse stick killed the Hellhound, did you? Interesting that you can see it though. I wasn’t sure if you’d be able to.”

“Hellhound. The Rottweiler?”

“You said yourself, you saw bright red eyes, yeah? Hellhound eyes.”

“That makes sense. I guess.” Percy laughed.

“It’s alright, my first encounter with one was rather confusing too. Granted, it was sent to kill me, but still,” his voice got low and bitter. 

“Sent to _kill you?"_ He just sighed. “Let me guess: another long story?” A nod. “Alright. You don’t have to tell me.” He looked at me gratefully. “Say, is that why your hair is never wet after showers?” I just blurted it out, which was unlike me, but it suddenly crossed my mind.

“Uh, yeah. I don’t get wet if I don’t want to. Or I can instantly dry myself off. It definitely comes in handy, at any rate.” He paused, thinking. “I can also breathe under water, if you were curious.” 

My eyebrows shot up. “Really? Wow.” Percy looked like he was about to make a comment, but changed his mind. 

The door unlocked with the normal click, when Percy reached into the refrigerator for a Coke after yet another, but more comfortable pause in conversation. 

“Hello! I saw the car out front! How’d it go you two?” She appeared in the kitchen with some bags. Percy quickly put down the soda to relieve her of a few of them. I was surprised to seem him act so quickly to help her like that, but I had to remind myself how close the two were. “Thank you sweetie. Well?” 

I smiled, taking the other bags from her hands and setting them on the counter. “I’d say it went alright." 

“Yeah. You know, awkward silences, pizza, seems about right.” She raised an eyebrow at him and he laughed. “What? That’s how it started. No, it was fun. A good idea, I’d say.” 

Sally smiled--I really love her smile--and asked, “So, what’d you talk about? I wanna know.” 

We glanced at each other, earning narrowed eyes from Sally. Percy spoke up first, “Well, Paul now knows the mystery of the mystical blue food.” 

Another light-hearted laugh from Sally, “Yes, good.” She became serious, similarly to how he had. “Did he argue?” Her gaze turned to me, and I had to refrain from gulping. 

“I wouldn’t say ‘argued’. Mostly just really confused. But I think he gets the concept and power of blue food now. Right?” With both of them so serious and staring at me, I actually did gulp. 

“Yeah. Food can be blue. But I still say it’s artificial coloring, and not natural.” Percy slapped a hand to his forehead, and Sally pursed her lips, eyes narrowing more. I was starting to think saying that last part was a bad idea. 

“You were doing so well, Paul. Didn’t I warn you not to argue it with her?” 

“Food can be blue, just as it can be red, purple, orange or any other color. The coloring had to come from somewhere, so, in that sense, does it mean _all_ food is artificially colored?” 

“Well, no, they’re _naturally_ those colors. You had to get the blue dye from somewhere else and, put it, into. . .” I stopped because of Sally’s glare. Percy shaking his head behind her was a hint as well to quit talking. “You know what. Food can be blue. That’s all that matters.” 

She smiled, suddenly bright faced, and clapped her hands together, “Good. I’m glad you understand. Now then, anything else of note?" 

I glanced again at Percy. I was still rather shocked by the revelation of who he really was. “Ah. . .” 

“I told him.” It was all Percy said to get the look of recognition on his mother’s face. 

“Oh. That’s good.” She couldn’t seem to hide the smirk that then grew on her lips. “How’d he take it?” 

“Well, considering a Hellhound attacked-” 

“What! Honey, are you okay? Did anyone get hurt?”   
“I’m fine. So is Paul. No one got hurt, although it did ruin a couple of shop entrances.” She sighed, still finding the need to fix his shirt. “Couldn’t really not fight it without telling him, especially since he insisted on not staying back.” He looked at me then, a cross between irritation and apologetic. 

“So, I’m assuming afterward, you told him _everything?_ ” Percy nodded to her. “Well, Paul, dear,” she said turning to me again, “now you know. I’m not sure how many of your questions Percy answered. Or how much you believed him, but at least you know now. I hope it didn’t scare you off.” She let out a slight chuckle, but it seemed nervous. 

I kissed her cheek. “No, I didn’t get scared off. Still a bit confused, but I don’t plan on leaving. Besides, it’s hard to argue with floating water.” 

“Percy!” She turned around as he was playing with water in his hands, which is a very weird thing to say. 

“It’s alright, he demonstrated earlier. It’s pretty impressive. Very, in fact.” He smiled, then frowned, and I wanted to ask what he was thinking about. 

“Dear, are you okay?" 

“Just thinking about volcanoes.” Sally apparently understood, but I had no clue. 

“Volcanoes?” 

“Another long story. One step at a time, huh?” He laughed, apparently enjoying getting to say that to an adult, a teacher no less. Sally smiled and giggled a bit, a hand on her son’s shoulder and I smiled as well. I might not know everything, but I definitely think I’ll grow to get used to all of this. 

  


**Author's Note:**

> Well, I had fun with this. Longer than I thought it’d be, since I got side-tracked at the end, but I kinda like it so I’ll leave it.
> 
> In other news I'm an idiot and wasn't paying attention and accidentally deleted this I'm really angry. At least it's not my best work or anything but still. I need to pay attention when it says "cannot be recovered".


End file.
